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Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.

4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Focus.
This is one of the few psalms that–to me–read more like a proverb than a “psalm” as we’ve come to think of them. It lends itself to a bit of wisdom.

The structure of this psalm is beautiful. Here, I wish I knew how to discuss Hebrew Parallelism on my blog, because it is excellently represented in this psalm. Verses 1 through 3 depict a man who is blessed; verses 4 and 5 show us a man who is wicked. And verse 6 wraps it all up for us. I think there is something to be gleaned here.

At first glance, it may seem that the focus of this psalm is man. Blessed is the man. More specifically, this psalm is a contrast between a righteous man and a wicked man. The blessed man is productive and rooted down to a healthy habitat, while the wicked man is blown around without foundation. While this is true, it is incomplete; it misses the essential point.

What if we change the emphasis? Blessed is the man. It helps us to see this more as a psalm about the blessings of righteousness. It is a not a focus of what a righteous man looks like so much as it is a focus of the blessings the Almighty bestows on those who seek hard after Him. He establishes the blessed man near life-giving water and causes him to grow; He brings fruition to the blessed man’s life and deeds (i.e.: Romans 8:28).

The man is blessed. But is the subject the man and how he is blessed? Yes; however, it also immediately demands answer: Blessed by whom? The answer, of course, is given at the close: The LORD watches over him.

Music.
There is nothing overtly musical about this psalm, but the more I consider it, the more I find myself convinced of rhythm. Look at the blessed man: There is a ritual, a returning and repeating of his blessings.

He is a like a tree that yields its fruit in season. It is not a constant yielding of fruit. It is a preparing, a rest, a growth, and a produce. Every year, the same, being prepared, resting, growing, producing, yielding fruit in season.

Day and night, the blessed man meditates on God’s law. This is not an occasional feast with a King; it is the daily habit of partaking in Christ’s words. This, again, is very rhythmic. It pulses, day after day, night after night, like the heartbeat of the man himself.

Compare this idea of rhythm and repetition to the wicked man: There is no return. He is simply described as chaff, blown by the wind. Does the wind blow a steady course? Is there any stability to it? Any design? Any path toward growth?

Music is structure. It is stability and framework from which we can be artistic and creative. Music is rhythmic, like the day in and day out meditation of the blessed man, and it yields its own fruit (resolution) after much rest (rest), much preparation (harmony, dynamics), much growth (tension, dissonance). It is not a whimsy flowing wherever the musicians take it. Even the most whimsical piece is wrapped up in the structure of scales and dynamics and the intent of the composer.

What does this say about theology?

Something to chew on…
I did not note this in my journal, but today as I’m reading the passage again, I am aware that the blessed man is described as “delighting” and “meditating.” There is no contrast with this in verses 4 and 5.